By Sean Simara @Sean_FootyMad @TLE_Sport
The final game of the 2015 International series takes place on Sunday as the Detroit Lions (1-6) face the Kansas City Chiefs (2-5). In the previous two games in this series at Wembley Stadium the Jacksonville Jaguars won for the very first time in London, beating the Buffalo Bills 34-31 in a very exciting game and the New York Jets dismantled the Miami Dolphins 27-14.
The Lions have mixed it up since their latest defeat to the Minnesota Vikings, getting rid of their backroom staff in the offensive areas. Hopefully this means we see the true ‘Megatron’, Calvin Johnson, return again. This season, the Lions’ Wide Receiver has not been so ‘mega’ and he missed last year’s Wembley game with an injury when the Lions beat Atlanta Falcons. Johnson has only scored 3 touchdowns this season which is poor by his standards. This also reflects on the quarterback – Matt Stafford looks even worse when his main target is off the boil. The Lions season is basically over and a defeat here would seal the deal for sure.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs have suffered badly with injuries as star man Jamal Charles is out for the season. Jeremy Maclin missed out on the Chiefs last game but the wide receiver looks set to return on Sunday after passing the NFL concussion protocol. Another target for the Chiefs quarterback, Alex Smith, to aim for will be his running back Charcandrick West. The Chiefs I think will look to beat the Lions down and demoralise them with the run. The Lions give up a lot of points, but the Chiefs don’t score much so expect both to go all out Sunday.
Kansas are known for their very vocal fan base, probably the very best in the NFL, so expect that to transfer over the pond. Detroit have the London experience, they won here last year. However, this season they have been pretty bad – the changes in the coaching staff could help but probably not this week. Therefore I’m going for the Chiefs to win. They are just a little bit more reliable, a little bit better and I think they will sneak a close one and win by a late field goal 30-27.
Elsewhere in the NFL on Sunday from the teams on 6-0, the Carolina Panthers host the Indianapolis Colts, the Cincinnati Bengals are at the Pittsburgh Steelers and someone’s 0 has got to go as the Green Bay Packers travel to face the Denver Broncos.
